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Eating healthy can be tricky even in the best of times, so if you're pressed for time but still want to take care of your health, check out Mamachari Kombucha, Salt Lake City's only kombucha brewery. For the uninitiated, kombucha is a lightly fermented tea in which natural sugars are converted to healthy probiotic and yeast strains. Think yogurt without the dairy, or probiotics without the pills.
Mamachari Kombucha started as a farmers-market venture in 2012 and has been expanding ever since. In the summer of 2015, Mamachari Kombucha had a shift in ownership with Lorrie Vorkink (brewmaster) and Ben Phillips (manager of packaging) taking the helm as co-owners.
"I love the process of brewing a live product and finding the right flavor combination," Vorkink says. "That's really the heart of Mamachari. Being able to produce our core flavors while allowing the creativity to flow into new flavors and new products makes the business fun and exciting."
Mamachari Kombucha comes in several core flavors: lemon ginger, mint lime, roots and botanicals, jasmine rose, concord grape, honey hops, sol-fire and lavender honey. They also offer seasonal varieties at local farmers markets and at locations that offer their product on-tap.
Nick Oakey of Salt Lake City discovered Mamachari Kombucha at the Downtown Farmers Market a few summers ago. "I really enjoy their kombucha," Oakey says. He estimates that he drinks kombucha only a few times a month, but that—in addition to the unique flavor—he always feels better physically after downing a bottle.
"Every batch of 'booch' is crafted with thoughtfulness and love," Vorkink says. "We enjoy being part of the local food community and supporting local businesses to help ours thrive."
Mamachari Kombucha can be found at several locations in Salt Lake City, including Liberty Heights Fresh (1290 S. 1100 East, LibertyHeightsFresh.com), Vive Juicery (Multiple locations, ViveJuicery.com), The Bagel Project (779 S. 500 East, BagelProject.com), Cucina Deli (1026 Second Ave., CucinaDeli.com), 3 Cups Coffee (4670 S. 2300 East, 3cups.coffee) and more. Additionally, you can find Mamachari "on-tap" at Vive Juicery's downtown location, Zest Kitchen & Bar (ZestSLC.com, 275 S. 200 West) and Mamachari's own brewery downtown. The taproom is usually open for tastings and customers to fill up growlers on Thursdays and Fridays, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., but check out Mamachari Kombucha's social-media sites for updated schedules.
"We will be updating our days and hours soon," Phillips says. "We would love [people] to give our product a try and work through all our flavors until you land on your two or three favorites." So grab a bottle and keep your GI tract happy while you're on the go.
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